The Encyclopedia (or Dictionary of Science, Art and Trades) edited by Diderot and d¹Alembert appeared in France at some point between 1751 and 1772. Its aim was to make the progress of science and philosophy, in all their manifestations, known to everyone. It is interesting that in those years a significant amount of attention was paid to pipes and pipe tobaccos. This confirms the popularity that this way of smoking had at the time and before then. We must not forget that among the specialists of each discipline that participated in the making of this dictionary, there were such illustrious names as Voltaire, Montesqieu, Rousseau, Condillac, Turgot, as well as many others. Four thousand two hundred and fifty copies of the encyclopedia were printed. It had four thousand subscribers, one hundred and forty-two known collaborators and many others who have never been identified. "The most recent research, however, allows us to establish that neither the collaborators nor the subscribers were aristocrats, members of parliament or business men. They were mostly to be found among writers, professors, doctors and artisans."

The "Encyclopédie" has the following definition for "pipe": a "long, thin tube generally made of very fine terracotta, used to smoke tobacco. One of the tube¹s ends is curved and has a small container called the bowl or pipe head in which the tobacco is placed in order to smoke it. This is done with one's mouth by sucking the smoke from the end of the tube opposite the bowl." It also explains how pipes are made in different forms: short and long, simple and sculpted, in different colours or white, but not painted, and that they are usually made in Holland. A hint is also made to the Turks' habits- at the time the most "exotic"- who used pipes ("that are two or three feet long, more or less") made of hollowed wood or bamboo at the end of which a nut-like terracotta appendage is attached which functions as a bowl. The four pages of sketches regarding "Pipes à fumer le tabac," tobacco smoking pipes, (that are shown here) illustrate the tools and methods with which clay pipes are made, the windmills used in Holland to mix the clay in a thorough manner, how a pipe acquires a certain form and how it is decorated (with a tool that is used in Holland in order to make the head perfectly round), all the steps of the construction of a pipe bowl and, in particular, a Gouda bowl.

If it weren't for our damned love of all things foreign, the Italian pipe smoker would be the luckiest man in the world. We have all the raw materials, industries and craftsmen with long-standing traditions, and Italian creativity. Nonetheless, this quirk for foreign goods of every type and shape (or at least with a foreign name) often spurs us to buy products, such as pipes, of foreign brands. And stupidly ignore or forget that abroad, Italian-made pipes are highly prized and their demand is in constant growth. At the II Annual Pipe Show, pipe lovers and collectors, smokers and non-smokers, will have the opportunity to meet the best makes in this field of production. An exhaustive panorama of the possibilities of success that our industries and craftsmen could have to an even greater extent, if all those of us who love pipe smoking paid closer attention to our own domestic production. And appreciate, without being snobs, the work and zeal of those who persevere, among a thousand difficulties, and keep the banner of Italian pipes flying high.